Five of the top six lots heading to auction this month come from the Lewis Family Collection, which has already made history. The modern masters consigned by billionaire Joe Lewis are part of the most valuable single-collection sale ever offered by an auction house in Europe.
The sale on Thursday, June 24, in London, which is led by his Modigliani nude, is expected to total more than $254m, dwarfing other sales due to take place at the end of June.
Non-Lewis works heading to auction in the city include a Monet water lilies painting with a low estimate of $40.1m, with a second Monet estimated at $9.3m.
Christie’s sales are estimated to total $39.1m on June 30, alongside additional auctions on June 25, possibly totaling $17m and $12.3m, while Phillips end the week with a June 26 sale estimated at $13.8m.
That makes a grand total of $360m worth of art on offer.
Ten years after the UK voted for Brexit, creating all sorts of “friction” for the international art trade, London still looks secure in its position as the world’s second-largest market for big-ticket sales.
For more on the sales, see here